


Shades of Blue

by KathakDancer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming of Age, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Growing Up, Healer!Padma, Hogwarts, There ain't enough Padma or Parvati fics, a lil angst if you squint, so I wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 21:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21043220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathakDancer/pseuds/KathakDancer
Summary: "She loved that shade of blue. The darkness of it that shifted to purple when in the setting sun’s light as she sat by the lake with her friends. It was her blue."--Blue has always been a part of Padma's life, first surfacing in Hogwarts and following her into adulthood.





	Shades of Blue

Year 1:   
Ravenclaw, where wisdom ruled above all. She was happy with that. Truly, that’s what ruled her heart and her mind. The thrill of new friends, new knowledge, and new place to grow into her own was far beyond anything she could ask for. And for once, she wouldn’t be mistaken for her sister. No, the blue emblazoned on her robes marked her as different. She loved that shade of blue. The darkness of it that shifted to purple when in the setting sun’s light as she sat by the lake with her friends. It was her blue. 

\--  
Year 2:  
A year in, and everything was making sense. Aside from the standard chaos that seemed to follow poor Potter everywhere, Hogwarts was home. She knew the stairs, knew the tricks, and every day, there was something new to love. Her classes fed her, grew her, made her hungrier for more, so she ran. She chased after that knowledge like an eagle diving to the ground. When she needed a break from her flying, you could find her by the lake again. She could spend hours watching the blue waves break on the shore, the giant squid peeking up every once in a while to see her sitting there. Her calm was with those blue waves.

\--  
Year 3:  
Padma never thought she could love divination. Something deep within her wanted to keep away from anything Parvati was good at, so that they could be known separately for their skills. That, and the theory behind divination was, in her opinion, esoteric and contained too many variables to produce any truths. Though she tried to understand Professor Trelawney (mostly out of respect for a Ravenclaw alumnus), her talent did not lie with tea leaves and crystal balls. So, she left that to Parvati, save one thing. 

“Take note of the constellations that you see before you sleep tonight!” Trelawney shouted as they finished their lesson. Padma had no intention of doing the homework. It had no interest to her – she could draw something from the theory later and turn it in. That night, however, as she looked out the window while getting ready for bed, she found herself seeking out star patterns in the blue velvet of the sky. She didn’t mean to, but the midnight blue called to her.  
Padma found the beauty of the night in that assignment. The dark cobalt that spilled across the world and the crystals embedded into it gave her more things to imagine. She dreamed of the blue beyond the dark and wondered what it could be like to touch such deepness. It inspired her, and the cobalt stayed inside her eyelids whenever she slept.

\--  
Year 4:  
“PADMA!”

“HA’A, ‘VATI?” 

Silence, then the rushed padding of feet as Parvati dashed across the hall to Padma’s room, where the Ravenclaw was on the floor reading. 

“What dress robes are you taking?” 

Padma looked over at Parvati, eyebrows furrowed. “I… What?”

“We’re required to bring dress robes! Which are you taking?”

Padma blinked, then set the book down on her chest as Parvati continued talking.

“Honestly, I think I’ll end up taking my pink lenga, I think that Lavender would like it! I wish I could show her before I decide…”

Padma watched in amusement as Parvati wandered out, then got up to look in her closet. All her Indian clothes were in one place: Punjabi suits, lengas, churidars, kurtis, all manner of shiny and eye drawing clothes. She sorted through them, humming softly before selecting one, laying it on her bed to pack later.

She was so excited to wear it. The turquoise on it lay bright on her skin and contrasted her hair beautifully. She wasn’t so fashion oriented as Parvati, but she had no trouble wearing blues. It became a near weekly thing, to pull her lenga from her closet and look at it, run her hand down the embroidery, inhale the scent of incense and sandalwood that permeated the cloth. It was her reminder of home.

It was such a shame that Weasley didn’t notice her much. She knew she looked so pretty in blue. But she couldn’t blame him. Granger was stunning in her periwinkle; blue was a good color on anyone, and Granger was ethereal. Thank goodness other boys weren’t so dense. The beautiful way the turquoise of her lenga shone against the blood-red of Durmstrang robes would be a memory she would hold close that year. 

\--  
Year 5:  
Thank god Parvati loved pink, because Padma didn’t think she could stand the color if Parvati hadn’t laid claim to it when they were infants. Now, she just saw it as stolen, just as she saw her teenage years being stolen away. She watched her friends, classmates, and new Housemates have their youth stolen. She watched and grew angrier with every time she took someone to the Hospital Wing, with every time she had to brew more healing potions, with every time she saw a toad. 

By the time she met with Professor Flitwick to discuss her future plans, she was about to explode. 

“So, Miss Patil, what are you thinking about for a career?” Flitwick was perched on his desk, facing her as she stared at the ground. She was silent as she lifted her gaze, head still down, eyes lined and tired. 

“Miss Patil?” Flitwick prompted.

“I… I don’t know, professor,” she said, voice already cracking under stress.

“Surely you have an idea, you always have ideas,” Flitwick chuckled warmly, then stopped as Padma’s head snapped up, eyes cracking with lightening. 

“I don’t! I have no clue how to plan for anything! If I could, I could have enough potions to care for the whole school! I could find ways to get that toad out! I could plan how to keep my House and Hogwarts safe! But I can’t, Professor! I can’t plan ahead; I can’t see what I need.”

Flitwick watched the witch with sadness in his eyes, nodding softly as she finished her rant. He watched her settle back into her chair, then reached behind the desk to retrieve a sheet of paper, jotting down words on it.

“What is that?” Padma asked softly, eyes dulling in exhaustion.

“A note for Madam Pomfrey. I’d like you to shadow her,” Flitwick answered, holding out the paper.

Padma stared at him, eyebrows raised. Shadow Pomfrey? 

“I think you would find solace in being a Healer, Miss Patil,” Flitwick said kindly. Padma did not answer, but took the paper anyway.

Flitwick was correct.

Padma shadowed Pomfrey, watching her heal and keep students healthy and out of pain. She watched as Pomfrey handled the most hysteric patient and brought them peace. Padma saw a way out of her helplessness. She brewed more potions for Madam Pomfrey, keeping her well stocked, finding comfort in the teal shade of a scar removal salve. Once she had shadowed for a month, Pomfrey found Padma applying the salve to a First-Year without needing instruction. As Padma got up and saw Pomfrey watching with pride, the Ravenclaw broke into the first genuine smile in two months.

Padma took the salve back to Ravenclaw Tower and distributed it among the Prefects, making such they could deal with minor injuries so that the Hospital Wing was less overwhelmed. When she applied that teal salve to students, watched how their faces relaxed in relief, and how they smiled as the hideous scars melted away, Padma realized she always wanted her fingertips stained teal. 

\--  
Year 6:  
It was strangely quiet, that year. Perhaps Hogwarts was still as busy as ever, but just more silent without the howls of pain echoing from Umbridge’s office. There was an unease, though, with every person that went quiet, with every soft chuckle. Padma found herself in the Room of Requirement often, looking back over the place where she had learned to protect and defend. 

Parvati went with her, sometimes. The two sisters would just sit in silence, looking around at the room. Their conversations were brief, if they had them.

“Pad?”

“Yes, ‘Vati?”

“This is the eye, isn’t it?”

“Of the storm? I think so.”

“I feel bad for enjoying it, sometimes.”

“I do too, ‘Vati.”

And they would sit, until Lavender came looking for Parvati. Then it would be the three women, Lavender with her head in Parvati’s lap, Parvati and Padma back   
to back. So they would sit, for another few hours, unwilling to let go of their one sanctum. 

Sometimes, they would cast their Patroni, fueled by the hours they had spent learning here, and let the warmth of good memories seep into their bones. Parvati’s peacock was a large, confident male, strutting about with feathers waving gently in his wake. Padma’s peacock was a smaller, faster boy who ran circles around his twin, appearing to try and coax him into a game. The transparent-blue light the two gave off lightened the bags under the twins’ eyes and warmed the air around them. Padma saw the years she and her sister grew up in that blue, the Ravenclaw eagle, the lake, the Yule Ball, the way her sister smiled in that blue. For those few minutes the Patroni played, Padma felt some peace. 

\--   
Year 7:  
Padma ran, lungs burning and arms aching as she carried a First-Year in her arms. She heard the raucous laughter from the Carrows behind her and felt a bolt zoom past her ear. Ducking into a corridor, she muttered a spell, activating a hidden passage, and slid into it, waiting for the Carrows to pass. She waited with baited breath as they passed the charmed wall, calling down the corridor for her and moving on. Padma waited for a few extra minutes before pulling the coin from her pocket, speaking lowly into it to let the D.A. know the First-Year was safe. 

Within the next half-hour, Padma arrived at the Room of Requirement, and after passing the First-Year off to Dean Thomas, staggered over to her medicine chest and opened it, searching for her salves and draughts. 

“Pad, you need to rest,” a soft voice drifted from behind her.

Padma smiled and looked over her shoulder. “’Vati, I can rest when the Gryffindor is healed.”

Parvati frowned and stepped beside her. “Let me. I’ve seen you do it enough times and Hannah is here as well.”

Padma paused, eyes drifting over to the Hufflepuff already cleaning the Gryffindor’s wounds. The drifted back to Parvati, who’s eyes were stern. She looked like their mother. Padma opened her mouth to argue, but Parvati held up a hand and a mirror. 

“Just look at yourself.”

Padma looked at her reflection and started at the blueish bags under her eyes. She touched them gently before looking at her sister, nodding and handing the medicine to her before turning and collapsing in her bed. 

The dark blue under her eyes didn’t go away. If anything, they got worse as Padma worked to heal all the wounds that came staggering into their haven. Parvati tried her best to help, but was preoccupied honing her divination techniques to try and prevent injury – it only took her a month before she managed to cut the damages by half. 

The half remaining was still a lot, and Padma tried to find solace in the little things. She tried to smile at her sister and Lavender poring over a crystal ball, hands gripped tightly in support and strength. She laughed at the First-Years’ Patroni. Whenever an injury turned to its deepest blue bruise with no swelling, she sighed in relief that the worst was over. She waited for that blue hue to stain people’s skin, because then, at least, they were healing. 

\--  
Year 1: Healer’s Education  
“Ms. Patil, what are you doing here so late?”

Padma looked up to see Healer Arkins standing over her, green robes hanging over one arm.

“I was just studying for my exam,” Padma replied, sitting up and wincing at the crackle that ran across her shoulders and down her spine. 

He raised an eyebrow and held out a hand, two watches on his wrist. One sat on the outside of his wrist – a standard wizard’s watch. The other sat with face on the inside of his wrist – a muggle watch. Padma touched his hand and turned it to read the time, balking at the numbers.

“Oh god, I didn’t realize it was that late,” she whispered, looking up to the window and finding a half-moon staring back. “Thank you, Healer Arkins, I’ll be leaving.” Padma gathered up her books and loaded them into her bag under Arkins’ watchful eye. 

“Here, Patil, let me help you carry that,” he picked up a few books that would not have fit into the already swollen tote.

Padma looked up and smiled at the Healer, nodding her consent and shouldering the tote. Together, they walked out of St. Mungo’s and towards the student housing for Healing students. They walked in silence, the moon ambient over the pointed streetlamps dotting their path up to the housing’s gate. Padma pushed it open, the two walking inside and letting the gate swing shut to reactivate the glamour hiding the flats.

“Thank you, Healer Arkins, I can get them from here.” Padma drew her wand and levitated the books he carried, charming them to follow her.

Healer Arkins smiled and put his hand in his pocket. “You don’t have to call me Healer Arkins here. Ezra is fine.”

Padma blinked for a moment, then grinned. “Padma, then, for you.”

Ezra laughed, and Padma couldn’t help but chuckle at the way his stormy blue eyes crinkled. “Alright, Padma. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Padma nodded, locking eyes with him as she smiled in affirmation. Ezra smiled back, the blue of his eyes soft and full of thunderclap laughter as he patted her shoulder. Padma watched him exit the gate and stood there, wondering how she had never seen how blue storms could be before then.

\--  
Year 2: Practicing Healer  
Padma followed the blue robed person back into a warmly lit room, a plush couch and chairs arranged around a coffee table set with tea. She sat on the couch, arranging her emerald robes so she didn’t feel trapped, at least by them. 

“Healer Patil, I’m glad you decided to make an appointment with me,” the person said, sitting across from her. “What brings you in today?”

Padma exhaled slowly, eyes falling to the floor under the Mind-Healer’s gaze. “My boyfriend asked me to try therapy with you, Mind-Healer Glorious.”

Glorious nodded as Padma looked up, silent, giving her the space to sort through what she wanted to say. 

“I… I’ve been having more nightmares. About Hogwarts. And, to try and tire my mind out so I don’t dream, I accidentally pushed myself to exhaustion a week ago. That’s when Ezra asked me to see someone.” Padma shifted uncomfortably, feeling open and vulnerable and unable to meet Glorious’ gaze. Instead, she focused on their robes, a sky-blue demarcation instead of emerald green. 

As Glorious began to lead her through her thoughts, her memories, Padma found her gaze rising from the comfort of the sky-blue robes to the gentle gaze of the Mind-Healer. Through the next hour, Padma came to enough comfort to schedule another session. As her day finished, Padma couldn’t help but think on that sky-blue, wondering if it was meant to symbolize the slight weight that had eased on her chest and disappeared. Her trauma and hurt was there, but maybe, just maybe, that sky-blue could hold some of it. 

\--  
Year 4:  
Parvati fastened the ties on the back of Padma’s cyan lenga, humming softly. Padma laughed, turning her head to look at her twin.

“What are you so happy about?” 

Parvati shook her head, resting a hand on Padma’s shoulder, pale pink jewel glinting off her left hand. “I’m just happy for you, Pad.”

Padma placed her hand on top of Parvati’s, holding it in a few moments of silence. It was a rare thing, a silent moment. The last few months had held few pockets, far between, but all appreciated. Today, especially, had been a whirlwind.

A soft knock broke the quiet, and the women turned their heads to the opening door. Lavender poked her head in, smiling widely. “How’re my favorite girls?”

Parvati held a hand out to Lavender. “Just enjoying the down time.”

Lavender opened the door more and entered, still in the doorframe. “I brought someone who wanted to see Padma, is that okay?”

Padma laughed and called out, “Ezra, you don’t have to ask for permission!”

A laugh sounded from behind the door as Lavender moved, Ezra entering and closing the door behind him. “I didn’t want to impose,” he apologized, walking towards Padma.

Padma reached out her other hand, a golden band studded with Ravenclaw blue gems winking from her left hand to hold Ezra’s right, drawing him near to rest her head against his torso. He rested his other hand on her back, a ring matching hers sparkling in the light. Lavender smiled, reaching into her bag to pull out a camera. Padma closed her eyes and smiled, knowing that this was her happiest moment – surrounded by shades of blue and those she loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This fic is un-beta'd, so please forgive any errors! Come talk to me on Tumblr @KathakDancer!


End file.
